After Gretchen and Ethan built an addition to their home in Burlington, Vermont, they knew that they would be over the town’s required lot coverage, which factors in paved driveways as coverage. The easy solution was to rip out their paved driveway and replace it with an environmentally friendly d… Read More →

Vermont State Flower and State Bird

Hermit Thrush ~ Hylocichla guttataThe Sweetest singer of his family, the Hermit Thrush, along with the Mockingbird, is fondly called the American Nightingale. He repeats the passages of his music often, each time in a slightly altered version. His singing has been compared to the “theme with variations” of the classical composers. There is, indeed, an air of classical dignity and serenity about this bird as he sits motionless on an evergreen perch in the remote north woods and sings to the wilderness sunset. Thoreau rightly noted in his journal that this little Hermit Thrush could “make a sabbath out of a weekend.”

Red Clover ~ Trifolium pratenseRed Clover, like other clovers, has a deceptive blossom. A single globe-shaped clover head is made up of about a hundred rose-purple florets. The first to come into bloom are those at the base of the head. Some writers believe that the Clover Leaf was the original shamrock. The leaf was also thought to resemble the three-knobbed club carried by Hercules; hence the plant was called “clava,” the Latin for club, which was corrupted into “clover.” This also explains why in playing cards the Clover Leaf is called a club.

From The Wildflowers of the 50 States U.S. stamps issued July 24, 1992:

Vermont Wildflower - Bunchberry. Art from the 50-stamp series, State Birds and Flowers, issued April 14, 1982 simultaneously in all state capitals.